Animal restraint device and method of using same

ABSTRACT

An animal harness having a rectangularly shaped slotted plate for resting on the back of the animal rearwardly of its forward shoulders and a single control strap adapted to be attached to a leash and for cooperating with pairs of rings for defining right and left foreleg slip loops. A pair of restraining straps pass through the rings and are coupled to the plate by a latching arrangement, cooperate with the slip loops to form a block and tackle arrangement which utilizes a pulling force exerted by the animal, to exert a restraining force across the upper foreleg muscles of the animal when the leash is held in a substantially stationary position.

DESCRIPTION

1. Technical Field

The present invention relates in general to an improved animalrestraining device and a method of using it. The invention moreparticularly relates to an animal harness which may be used with acontrol leash to facilitate restraining a large animal, and which can beused according to a novel method.

2. Background Art

There have been many different types and kinds of animal restrainingdevices for controlling dogs and other types of four-legged animals. Forexample, reference may be made to the following U.S. Pat. Nos.:1,685,435; 2,187,021; 2,233,397; 2,458,484; 2,464,867; 2,534,727;2,605,744; 2,670,712; 2,798,458; 2,826,172; 3,310,034; 3,769,939;3,994,264; 4,060,056; 4,597,359; and 4,964,369.

As disclosed in the foregoing mentioned patents, various harnesses areattached to an animal by straps, collars and loop devices. In thisregard, a leash attached to the harness can be grasped to cause theanimal to be controlled or restrained.

While such harnesses may restrain animals, they have not proven to beentirely satisfactory as such devices typically act to inhibit theanimal from straining against the leash by either choking or pinchingthe animal with its collar or by causing some other pain inducing forceto cause the animal to terminate leash resistance.

For example, U.S. Pat. No. 4,964,369 describes a leash attachable dogharness which includes a pair of cords or cables. The cables areattached to a front neck part of a neck collar and extend in a pair ofloops under the foreleg pits of the animal and upwardly forwardlythrough a pair of rings on a rear neck part of the collar to a commonattachment point. The attachment point is adapted to be secured to theleash removably. In use, when the animal strains against the leash, thecables are pulled upwardly into the foreleg pits of the animal andforwardly through the rings to cause the restraint cables to impose apainful pressure in the foreleg pits. While such a device restrains theanimal, the designed restraining method is cruel as it causes severe andundesired pain to be inflicted upon the animal for control purposes.

Therefore, it would be highly desirable to have a new and improvedanimal restraining device which inhibits an animal from strainingagainst a control leash without producing any choking or other painfulaction against the animal. Such a restraining device should be able tobe quickly attached to the animal, and easily used by a small person,such as a child, to restrain even a large animal.

DISCLOSURE OF INVENTION

Therefore, the principal object of the present invention is to provide anew and improved animal restraint harness, which can be attached to acontrol leash, and which acts to inhibit the animal from strainingagainst the control leash without producing any painful action againstthe animal.

Another object of the present invention is to provide such a new andimproved animal restraint harness which can be easily and quicklyattached to an animal.

Still yet another object of the present invention is to provide such anew and improved animal restraint harness which can be used by a smallperson, such as a child, to retrain even a large animal.

Briefly, the above and further objects of the present invention arerealized by providing a new and improved animal restraint harness, whichcan be attached to a control leash and an animal to control the animalrestrainably according to a novel method of using the harness.

An animal harness having a rectangularly shaped slotted plate or backengaging device for resting on the back of the animal, rearwardly of itsforward shoulders and a single control strap adapted to be attached to aleash and for cooperating with pairs of rings for defining right andleft foreleg slip loops. A pair of restraining straps pass through therings and are coupled to the plate by a latching arrangement. Therestraining straps cooperate with the slip loops to form a block andtackle arrangement which utilizes a pulling force exerted by the animal,to exert a restraining force across the upper foreleg muscles of theanimal when the leash is held in a substantially stationary position.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF DRAWINGS

The above mentioned and other objects and features of this invention andthe manner of attaining them will become apparent, and the inventionitself will be best understood by reference to the following descriptionof the embodiment of the invention in conjunction with the accompanyingdrawings, wherein:

FIG. 1 is a pictorial view of an animal restraining harness which isconstructed in accordance with the present invention and which isillustrated attached to an animal in a restraining position;

FIG. 2 is an enlarged fragmentary pictorial view of the foreleg of thedog illustrating a slip loop of FIG. 1 in the restraining position;

FIG. 3 is a fragmentary pictorial view of the animal restraining harnessof FIG. 1 illustrated in a non-restraining position disengaged from thecollar strap;

FIG. 4 is a pictorial view of the animal restraining harness of FIG. 1;

FIG. 5 is an enlarged top plan view of the restraining harness,illustrating a back engaging slotted plate of FIG. 1;

FIG. 6 is a cross sectional view of the back engaging slotted plate ofFIG. 5, taken substantially along line 6--6; and

FIG. 7 is a cross sectional view of the back engaging slotted plate ofFIG. 5 taken substantially along line 7--7.

BEST MODE FOR CARRYING OUT THE INVENTION

Referring now to the drawings, and more particularly to FIGS. 1-4thereof, there is shown an animal harness 10, which is constructed inaccordance with the present invention. The harness 10 can be readilyattached to a leash 11 for restraining animal foreleg movement inaccordance with the method of the present invention.

The harness 10 generally comprises a generally rectangularly shapedslotted plate 12 having a forward traverse slot 13, and a pair offorward and rear longitudinal slots 14, 16 and 18, 20 respectively. Theharness 10 also includes a single control strap 21 which pass throughthe forward slots 14 and 16 for forming a pair of foreleg slip loops, aright front slip loop 24 and a left front slip loop 26 respectively. Apair of restraining straps 28 and 30 which are adapted to cooperate withthe slip loops 24 and 26 respectively are secured removably to the plate12 for helping to restrain animal foreleg movement.

A ring 32 is secured to one terminal end of the restraining strap 28 forsliding engagement with the slip loop 24. The other terminal end of therestraining strap 28 is secured to a resilient compressible key 34 forcoupling the restraining strap 28 to the plate 12 as will be explainedhereinafter.

In a similar manner, a ring 33 is secured to one terminal end of therestraining strap 30 for sliding engagement with the slip loop 26. Theother terminal end of the restraining strap 30 is secured to anotherresilient compressible key 35 for coupling the restraining strap 30 tothe plate 12 as will be explained hereinafter.

In order to enable the restraining straps 28 and 30 to be coupled to theplate 12, the harness 10 also includes a single tackle strap 36 having apair of latching members 37 and 39 disposed at opposite ends thereof.The tackle strap 36 is looped around the plate 12 through the rear slots18 and 20 respectively, and thus, is fastened removably to the plate 12.In this regard, when the keys 34, 35 engage the respective latchingmembers 37, 39, the tackle strap 36 is secured at its opposite ends torespective restraining straps 28 and 30.

To help define the slip loops 24 and 26, the harness 10 further includesa pair of rings 40 and 42 respectively. Ring 40 cooperates with the ring32 to form the right front slip loop 24. In a similar manner, ring 42cooperates with the ring 33 to form the left front slip loop 26.

Slip loops 24 and 26 are dimensioned to extend downwardly forwardly fromthe plate 12 across the respective right and left shoulders of an animal8 to be restrained, thence through the respective rings 32 and 33disposed on the chest of the animal adjacent to its right and leftforelegs respectively and thence upwardly through rings 40, 42respectively to a common point A which is adapted to be attached to theleash 11.

In use, the harness 10 is attached to the animal 8 by placing orpositioning the plate 12 on the back of the animal behind its forwardshoulders to help establish a mechanical advantage against a pullingforce exerted by the animal. Next, the slip loops 24 and 26 are extendeddownwardly forwardly from the plate 12 across the respective right andleft shoulders of the animal until the rings 32 and 33 are positioned onthe chest of the animal adjacent to its right and left forelegs,respectively. The restraining straps 28 and 30 are then looped under thechest of the animal 8 and pulled rearwardly a sufficient distance toenable the respective resilient keys 34, 35 to engage the respectivelatching members 37, 39 extending from opposite ends of the tackle strap36. In this regard, the slip loops 24 and 26 cooperate with therespective restraining straps 28 and 30 as well as the tackle strap 36to form a block and tackle arrangement which provides a mechanicaladvantage over any pulling force exerted by the forelegs of the animal.

To enable a person, such as a small child, animal trainer or owner, toexercise a controlling restraint over the animal 8, such a person merelyattaches the leash 11 to the common point A and holds the leash 11 in afixed position by standing stationary. In this regard, when the animalattempts to exert a pulling force against the leash 11, the forceexerted by the animal enables the slip loops 24 and 26 to be drawnupwardly and forwardly across the chest of the animal towards the plate12. Simultaneously, the tackle strap and associated latching mechanisms37, 39 causing the respective restraining straps 28 and 30 to be drawntight against the lower chest of the animal and upwardly and across theupper foreleg muscles to lift the forelegs from their engagement withthe ground, thus restraining the forward movement of the animal 8. Asall of the lifting force is exerted by the animal 8, little counterforceis required by the person holding the leash 11. Thus, even a smallperson, such as a child, is able to control a large animal, such as alarge dog.

It should be understood from the foregoing that the restraining strap isa large flat piece of material which slides along the underside of thechest of the animal and across the foreleg muscles to distribute theexerted force against the outside foreleg muscles for restrainingpurposes. Such a distributed force restrains the animal without causingthe animal to experience unwanted and undesired pain, such as by chokingor by lifting the animal upwardly by its foreleg pits.

Considering now the harness 10 in still greater detail with reference toFIGS. 1 and 2, the harness 10 is adaptable to be secured removably to aneck collar 60. In this regard, the harness 10 includes a collar strap62 which is looped around the plate 12 via the slot 13, to fasten thestrap 62 removably to the plate 12. A compressible key or attachmentdevice 64 disposed on one of the terminal ends of the strap 62 isadapted to engage removably a latching mechanism 66 secured to theopposite terminal end of the strap 62. In this regard, when the strap 62is passed under and over the neck collar 60, the device 64 is receivedin the latching mechanism 66, to secure removably the plate 12 to thecollar 60.

Considering now the strap 21 in greater detail, as best seen in FIG. 2,the strap 21 is fastened together at the common point A to form a smallloop around a leash receiving ring 70. The leash receiving ring 70 isadapted to be connected to the leash 11. In this regard, when a personcontrolling the leash 11 stands in a stationary position, the animal 8will exert a pull which is directed upwardly through the ring 70 to theleash 11 causing the two slip loops 24 and 26 to be reduced sharply intheir overall circumferences, thus applying a pressure across the backof the animal as well as the front foreleg muscles of the animal. Thispressure is distributed substantially evenly across the width of thestraps 21, 28 and 30 and causes the animal to be restrained until thepulling force is released by the animal.

In order to provide a more limited form of restraint for trainingpurposes or the like, instead of attaching the leash 11 to the ring 70,the leash can be attached directly to both rings 40 and 42.

While particular embodiments of the present invention have beendisclosed, it is to be understood that various different modificationsare possible and are contemplated within the true spirit and scope ofthe appended claims. There is no intention, therefore, of limitations tothe exact abstract or disclosure herein presented.

What is claimed is:
 1. An animal harness for use with a control leash,comprising:block and tackle means for helping to provide a mechanicaladvantage over a pulling force exerted against the control leash; saidblock and tackle means including left front movable slip loop means forhelping to establish a portion of said mechanical advantage, said leftfront movable slip loop means being fixed at one of its terminal ends;right front movable slip loop means for helping to establish anotherportion of said mechanical advantage, said right front movable slip loopmeans being fixed at one of its terminal ends; tackle strap means forsecuring fixedly together said left front movable slip loop means andsaid right front movable slip loop means at one of their respectiveterminal ends; ring means engaging said left front movable slip loopmeans at its other terminal end and said right front movable slip loopmeans at its other terminal end and adapted to be coupled to the controlleash for enabling a person to control an animal restrainably; andrestraining strap means adapted to be attached to the control leash andcoupled to said ring means for enabling said left front movable sliploop means to move towards and away from its fixed terminal end and forenabling said right front movable slip loop means to move towards andaway from its fixed terminal end to help restrain unwanted animalmovements.
 2. An animal harness according to claim 1, wherein said leftfront movable slip loop means includes:left slip loop strap means forhelping to establish a mechanical advantage against a pulling forceexerted by the left foreleg of an animal; and said left slip loop strapmeans secured at one of its ends rearwardly of the forward shoulders ofthe animal and secured movably at another one of its ends to said ringmeans for enabling an upwardly forwardly force to be exerted against theleft foreleg of the animal to substantially restrict left forelegmovement when the leash is held in a substantially stationary positionrelative to the pulling force exerted by the animal.
 3. An animalharness according to claim 2, wherein said left slip loop strap means isa slip strap.
 4. An animal harness according to claim 2, wherein saidright slip loop strap means is a slip strap.
 5. An animal harnessaccording to claim 1, wherein said right front movable slip meansincludes:right slip loop strap means for helping to establish amechanical advantage against a pulling force exerted by the rightforeleg of an animal; and said right slip loop strap means secured atone of its ends rearwardly of the forward shoulders of the animal andsecured movably at another one of its ends to said ring means forenabling an upwardly forwardly force to be exerted against the rightforeleg of the animal to substatially restrict right foreleg movementwhen the leash is held in a substantially stationary position relativeto the pulling force exerted by the animal.
 6. Using a restrainingdevice according to claim 1, to restrain a four-legged animal.
 7. Arestraining device for controlling an animal with a control leash,comprising:back engaging plate means for helping to establish amechanical advantage, said back engaging plate means resting in asubstantially stationary position on the back of the animal rearward ofits forward shoulders; single strap means fastened to said back engagingplate means for attachment to the control leash; and pulley meansengaging said single strap means for further helping to establish amechanical advantage; whereby when the control leash is held in asubstantially stationary position relative to animal unwanted animalmovement is substantially restrained.
 8. A restraining device accordingto claim 7, wherein said single strap means includes a right sideportion for defining a movable right front slip loop for helping torestrict right foreleg movement of the animal to be retrained;saidsingle strap means further having a left side portion for defining amoveable left front slip loop for helping to restrict left leg movementof the animal to be restrained; right foreleg restraining means attachedfixedly to a right rear portion of said back engaging plate means forengaging movably said right front slip loop for pulling up on the rightforeleg muscle of the animal to substantially restrict right forelegmovement when the leash is held in a substantially stationary positionrelative to the pulling force exerted by the animal; and left forelegrestraining means attached fixedly to a left rear portion of said backengaging plate means for engaging movably said left front slip loop forpulling up on the left foreleg muscles of the animal to substantiallyrestrict left foreleg movement when the leash is held in a substantiallystationary position relative to the pulling force exerted by the animal.9. A restraining arrangement according to claim 8, wherein said rightside portion commences at a back attachment point adjacent to the leash,thence downwardly forwardly extending across the right shoulder of theanimal to a right attachment point adjacent to the chest and rightforeleg of the animal and thence upwardly rearwardly to said backattachment point adjacent to the leash; andwherein said left sideportion commences at said back attachment point adjacent to the leash,thence downwardly forwardly extending across the left shoulder of theanimal to a left attachment point adjacent to the chest and left forelegof the animal and thence upwardly rearwardly to said back attachmentadjacent to the leash.
 10. A restraining device according to claim 7,wherein said back engaging plate means is slotted plate means.
 11. Arestraining device according to claim 10, wherein said slotted platemeans includes means defining a pair of front slots and means defining apair of rear slots.
 12. A restraining device according to claim 11,wherein said single strap means is looped through said front slots forfastening removably said single strap means to said plate means.
 13. Arestraining device according to claim 11, wherein said right forelegrestraining means includes single tackle strap means.
 14. A restrainingdevice according to claim 13, wherein said single tackle strap meansloops through said rear slots for fastening removably said single tacklestrap means to said plate means.
 15. Using a restraining deviceaccording to claim 7, to restrain a four-legged animal.
 16. Arestraining device according to claim 7, further comprising:collarattachment means attached to one of the collar and the plate means forsecuring removably said plate means to the animal collar.
 17. An animalrestraining hardness, comprising:plate means adapted to rest on the backof the animal adjacent to its forward shoulders for helping to establisha mechanical advantage against a pulling force exerted by the animal;restraining strap means secured removably to said plate means and beingadapted to enabling a person to restrict undesired leg movement by theanimal; means attached to said restraining means for further helping toestablish said mechanical advantage against the pulling force exerted bythe animal; strap means looped around the last-mentioned means and beinganchored to said plate means for effectuating movement of saidrestraining means when said pulling force is exerted against saidrestraining strap means; said restraining strap means and said strapmeans forming a pair of loops, each loop extending downwardly from theback of the animal under its rib cage, thence forwardly behind the legand upwardly adjacent the chest and thence rearwardly to said platemeans; said restraining strap means being pulled upwardly forwardlyunder said pulling force when a portion of said strap means is held in asubstantially stationary position by said person to prevent forwardmovement of the animal; whereby said restraining strap means spreads arestraining force across the area of said plate mean and against theupper forelegs of the animal to substantially restrict foreleg movementuntil the animal reduces said pulling force a sufficient amount tosubstantially prevent said restraining strap means from being pulledupwardly forwardly via said means attached to said restraining means.